This View of Life
Magazine

From extortion to to generosity, evolution in the prisoner's dilemmaThe eternal struggle between cooperative and selfish social strategies takes place on the playing field of theoretical models in addition to the real world. The prisoner's dilemma is a favorite model for exploring advantages and pitfalls of cooperation.

Religious rituals are effective because they are seemingly defying rationality!In 2003, Richard Sosis and Eric Bressler achieved a breakthrough by applying the “costly signaling theory”. According to this theory, religious rituals are able to promote intragroup cooperation exactly by bringing up purely or partially non-rational behaviors – signaling to onlookers that true believers are at hand.

We are closer to a science of intentional change than one might think.With three members of the EI’s Scientific Advisory Board, Steven C. Hayes, Anthony Biglan, and Dennis D. Embry, we have written a review article titled “Evolving the Future: Toward a Science of Intentional Change”, which will be published in the commentary journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS).

The fossil found in the Peñacerrada I outcrop in Spain was the first Spanish beetle ever described in amber.

The very nature of the scientific process is changing. Social media is now a key science communication tool where scientific opinions are forged, and scientific debates are decided. In recognition of these developments, Kevin Laland and colleagues are delighted to launch the EES Update, the social media package for the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis project.